Locals get input on U. school

Three groups have made suggestions as to what to put in the pre-K-8 school. Although the first brick has yet to be laid on the site of the planned University-funded public school at 42nd and Spruce streets, three steering committees have come up with plenty of ideas as to what the building will house once it's built. While parents anxiously await the Philadelphia School District's decision on the exact residential area from which the school will draw students, recommendations from the Community Programming Committee, the Education Committee and the Site and Facilities Committee have made interaction with the surrounding community key to planning for the school. Community Programming Committee Co-chairperson Kate Ward-Gaus, a University health educator, met with more than 20 committee members over the past 10 months to discuss how the school will interact with and contribute to its neighborhood. "Though the group was diverse in many respects, we were quickly able to achieve consensus," Ward-Gaus said. "The one issue that seems to bring agreement across many varying groups is the need for quality public education in our neighborhood." The committee also emphasized the need for the new school to act as a resource center in the community, perhaps providing extended day care, adult education and a meeting place for local groups. Ward-Gaus' group's recommendations were echoed by those of the other two committees. Nancy Streim, assistant dean of the Graduate School of Education and head of the Education Committee, said the public school should provide "a model of how a school can be organized for the continuous improvement of instruction and student learning." In her report, Streim stressed that a low student-to-teacher ratio -- 18 to 1 for kindergartners and 23 to 1 for grade schoolers -- is critical to providing a high-quality education. Steve Schutt, the University's pointman on the project, said technology would be an integral part of the educational programming. Members of the steering committees agreed. "[It will be] a challenging academic program that develops in all children both the academic skills needed for future success and an inclination and respect for learning," Streim said. Tom Lussenhop, Penn's top real estate official and head of the Site and Facilities Committee, pointed out that the architecture would "assure round-the-clock use of the school -- an important objective -- [and that] the public spaces of the school are easily accessible and inviting as well." The University will provide annual support of $700,000, or $1,000 for each of the school's expected 700 students, for 10 years. Though it will be operated by the city, Penn's Graduate School of Education will provide teaching and curriculum assistance. Construction is scheduled to start in March and the school is expected to open in September 2001. The pre-K-8 school has been trumpeted by University officials as an ideal way for Penn to make a meaningful contribution to West Philadelphia. Officials hope it will both improve the quality of life for current residents and encourage faculty and staff to live in the University City area. But it has also been a source of controversy. Community members have raised concerns in the past about what will happen to the existing institutions on the planned pre-K-8 site, including the University City New School and the Parent Infant Center, which provides day care. A third organization at the site, the Penn Children's Center, will move to a new building at 33rd and Chestnut streets.